I am finding my body is beginning to repeat some patterns caused by dietary choices that make me sick. Before I was pregnant with my daughter, I had finally committed to becoming an ovo-lacto vegetarian (though I was planning to drop the dairy and possiably the eggs over the course of my first year transition). One month in I found out that I was pregnant and I was talked out of continuing my diteary lifestyle changes during such a time of life as my first pregnancy. I allowed the fears of nutirional deficiency cloud my better judgement and resumed eating as I have my entire life.

What had prompted me cut out animal protien is that I have struggled for years (and possiably longer) with health problems that I can clearly account to ingesting meat. I particularly struggle with eating pork and red meat and rarely eat these already. I actually really enjoy eating chicken and seafood so the sacrifice will truly be for the sake of my health.

Now that I am almost 2 years post-pregnancy and drawing close to the end of nursing I have been noticing over the last 6 months in particular that I am having a hightened intolerance to meats and milk products again. I would almost venture to say that it is WORSE than I remember it being before! I know it won’t sound like much, but the month long bent I spent eating as a vegetarian were the best days I have experienced in a decade. I haven’t felt that healthy, energetic, and clean (I felt clean inside and out-not bogged down like I normally feel) since!

I really think its time for me to start eating vegetarian again but it poses the question..how in the world do I feed my family? There is no way my husband is going to be able to eat as a vegetarian and my daughter may do well but I am torn whether to adapt her to a vegetarian diet or keep animal protien in her diet. She has ONLY been introduced to chicken. There is always the “Vegan till 6” program that some ladies were doing as a result of reading the Mark Bittman book “Food Matters”. This would mean I would be greatly reducing my current diet dependency on animal protiens and would only ingest meats or dairy, etc.. when we are eating together as a family for dinner. If this does not create the health changes I am looking for I can always go a more extreem elimination path.

I am just so tired of feeling sick ALL THE TIME! I am tired of feeling tired. I am sick of rushing to the restroom with nausea and stomach cramps 30 minutes and beyond after most meals or encounters with dairy laden drinks. I think my diet also has alot to do with my inability to grow hair (my hair grows crazy slow despite taking vitamins and taking good care of it!). I can’t sleep even when my daughter IS, which in turn causes me to be too tired to do the things I want to do with her, not to mention, too tired to exercise regularly for weight loss.

It’s definitely time for change..even if it complicates my dinner schedule and gets me funny looks from family and friends! I am ready to start living again with at least a smidge of the energy and zeal for life I had 10 years ago!

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One response to “Sick of being sick.”

I am vegan on the slight raw side, my children are vegetarians for the most part, my husband is omnivore. It takes a bit more planning but overall, it’s not that much more work. Mike will cook his own meat and will add it to whatever I make. The older boys generally choose not to have meat, the youngest will stay meat free until he’s old enough to ask for it.

We are generally eating the same meal, just different variations of it. Mike adds meat, the kids usually want cheese, that sort of thing. There are times where we are eating different meals but we always sit together to eat.

I plan on hitting up this topic (feeding the whole family) on my Barefoot Vegan blog sometime soon so keep a look out. 🙂